Thomas Campbell's website

Thomas Campbell's website is now up. I just got a notice. You should definitely check out this man's art. I guess the blog entry is perfect timing with the Beautiful Losers movie. Random! I met Thomas Campbell way back in the early 2000s. He was painting with Barry McGee in a building. I didn't know his work then, but he was living in San Diego at the time (I think). He was doing art, and sitting quietly. He's always been a nice guy and that's why we distribute his book Sing Ding a Ling. We've had it for a while, and got it into a bunch of shops. Aside from art, this dude makes films, and is sort of a jack of all trades and a master of a few of them.

See the book here.

Thomascampbell-art.com

Beautiful Losers the Film Starting Tonight at the Nuart

Beautiful Losers the film is opening at the Nuart, just down the street from Giant Robot store. Director Aaron Rose is a pretty good guy. I hung out with him for nearly a week in Madrid, for another art exhibition and have run into him a few times locally in LA. We had some good conversations about Beautiful Losers and at the same time, I'd like to think I brought a different view point to what the film and movement might be. I thought it was a jumping off point, while many were pissed off about what the "movement" was all about. It excluded a ton of artists, who were probably worthy of being part of the "in" crowd. But what then it did was create a small fire under people's asses to make their own movements and that might actually be the larger gift that came from the film. I remember in a press conference in Madrid, Aaron Rose mentioned that point about the film. Maybe it's an easy out in times of tough questions, but it's the truth.

Beautiful Losers.
CRIBS: Aaron Rose's crib in the LA Times. We talked about the African masks once, well there they are.

My Bloody Valentine Fuji Festival

Imagine, bands all over the world are getting back together to play again. If you watched the closing ceremonies of the olympics, you saw Jimmy Page, who looked like a grandpa, and probably is, playing his Les Paul doing some Zeppelin. He looked nothing like Jimmy Page. Also on tour, again, is My Bloody Valentines. A band that really never marketed their faces over their music, I don't really know what they look like. But here they are. The cool thing is that this band was doing their thing for over two decades, but you know what? They don't look half bad compared the many punk bands, rock bands, indie or glam who are back touring again. Watch the video on youtube. If you're a fan of the band, then this is amazing.

Minutiae - Popsicle

You'd think there'd be more important things to post about aside from this. Look at this combination. Who thought of this? Imagine the creative department at Popsicle sat around and probably got lit at lunch and came back and said, "We got it. Banana, Root Beer, and Lime!" Imagine the furor. "What the fuck?!" Jobs may have been lost, people mad, but it's interesting to know that, this combo has been around for a while, and it's the only one I buy! Why is that? They're all underdog flavors, but they're my three favorite flavors. Rootbeer first, then banana, and then lime. The weird thing is that tonight, I pull out the lime and immediately, I notice that it looks darker.


I turned on some more lights, and it still didn't look right. Do you know Popsicles enough to immediately see that a color is wrong? It's darker, less bright green, and the taste was off too! I wonder what went wrong with this one, and I look at the front of the box. "Natural Colors and Flavors!" The rootbeer was spot on, it's still brown, the lime was off, but I'll bet it's because that's the easiest flavor to be "natural". The banana was about the same. Maybe a little more yellow and a bit more rich. Popsicle should hire me to taste and judge their colors. 

Mr David Choe at the DNC area Manifest Hope

David Choe's in Denver. We were supposed to be there too, but work prevails, even with great events going on. Manifest Hope might be one of those. It's not part of the DNC, but there's an assemblage of artists who are together painting images of Obama to get the word out a little more. We'll see how it goes. We were supposed to play a larger role in this, however, getting David Choe out there is a great thing. You can still pick up the print if you want to get one. They're not inexpensive, but at the same time, it's going to a cause, right?


Check out Manifest Hope

flickr update food in China

Food in China from Beijing and Shanghai. The photos here are of xiaolongbao, the notorious soup dumpling. So good, so easy to eat. I could down tons of these. Each one tastes great, and the place in Shanghai is packed. If you pay more you get seats higher and higher up. Pay more, don't wait the two hours for the cheap seat. How much more is it? +$10 for your meal? It's something like that. I don't suggest the big dumpling with the straw coming out of it.


This may taste okay, but it's all soup, and really, it's just okay. 1-10, a 5 or 6 for this. It's for tourists.

See more edibles at Flickr

A week in food

I didn't blog a lot over the weekend, but that means I've accumulated  some photos. This time, it's food and restaurants. Bay Cities is a fixture in Santa Monica. It's one of those places you have to go to. Get a sandwich, try out their salads, get some cheese. I always opt for the Poor Boy sandwich which is salami, bologna, and peppers, lettuce, and tomato. The roll it comes in is great too. It has flavors that I don't get elsewhere. I dare not show a photo. You'll want to get one now. $6! Check out Bay Cities.

Cheeses from all over the world. I don't eat cheese. But I'm starting to become sympathetic to them - even if it gives me the gas. 

Raku is near my house. It's in WLA. It's a great place that's probably underrated. The last times I've gone there, there's been this sign that tells you the ranking of the most popular items. This is an izakaya, they have tons of small dishes, so this helps. The weird thing is that I never tried anything on the top 10 even though I've been here a few times. See those arrows. Is it a riser, same, or a downer? I've tried 6 and 8, because I saw the sign.

Shishamo nanban. It's pickled fish. It's a good one, my mom makes this better however. 

Seared albacore that's marinated with ponzu sauce and garlic. This isn't a good one to end with.

Nasu gyoza. This tastes amazing. Yeah, it's deep fried, but they created a pretty tasty dish.

Yuzu. In Torrance, this is a great spot to check out. Simple, my lunch was 13.50. That's tongue! Tofu, eggplant, mountain yam, soup, daikon, and rice. High end style and great. I'll be back. Dinner is more expensive, so stick to the lunch. It's well done Japanese food.

That's Yuzu's hamburg steak. This is looking good. I don't always know why Japanese places give you shredded cabbage with no dressing. Notice the thumbs up?

Honey, lemon, and rosemary sauced salmon. Yeah I made this, and I ever cross hatched the grill marks. I got the recipe from Saveur magazine.

Back to one of the best spots. Wakasan in West LA. Tough to beat sometimes. That's David Horvath, who's in town visiting. A good friend, it's nice to catch up with him. 

For my older post on Wakasan, click here.

Lost today but it was a fun ride

flickr update. Commune by The Great Wall

Freedom! Not really, but that's at the Great Wall of China. It's a somewhat private area, since it's part of the Commune by The Great Wall complex which is about an hour or less away from Beijing, near the touristy Badaling area. Are you into the idea of architects from around Asia each designing a house that someone with a lot of money can rent? I'm sure it's packed for the Olympics. The Commune is a getaway, and it's highly developed and interesting. One thing odd is that although each of the house is meticulously made, while we toured some of the interiors, they were slightly a mess. Simple things like mopping wasn't done ahead of time making the places look like there was a break in. But this is first world living outside of Beijing. It's an amazing idea.

Here's a link to their site.
Take a look at my flickr set.

Meanwhile, here's a couple of other shots.


You can walk around sections that look like this. You can't help but hope you'll see something weird there, like old tools, but no, it's been picked through 1000 times.

New and old. I thought the juxtaposition was interesting. I'm not sure if they want you to shoot pics like this, but it tells the story. Otherwise, you might think you're in Europe or walking through a spread of Dwell magazine.

Derrick Kato

This is Derrick Kato my cousin. He works at Trader Joe's on National Blvd in West LA. He's does the drawings and art for the signs in the shop. Each shop does their own thing and he has this place on lock down. What's that thing he's holding? What's written on his hand? His clock in time? I didn't notice it until after the pics were shot. He has a little spot far in the backroom where he hides and does his thing. I heard he bags groceries too. Derrick's always been a quiet dude, I'll bet he has to talk more here than anywhere else.

Cutting them sausages. This is in the deli meats section obviously. Look at that angry butcher dude eyeing the cutting technique of the goofy kid.

Whoa there, what's going on in this one? Check out that baby and the arched legs. This one is funny.

Dudes checking out a stewardess. Okay, I'll admit we do that. But the cheese sign rocks.

Hilarious. Imagine a pita jumping into a pool of hummus with a broccoli dude in it.

Veggie font deluxe on the left, paper boy telling the world about the organic invasion. D might be right.

This looks normal, a stork with some groceries delivering to a tropical island of TJ. However, there's an octopus in the water. 

I'm guessing this one is his too. It was outside. It might not be, since it's different looking. But longboarder riding in a wave with bags. Nice.

No waves? Read signs. It's a tiki man. 

Cameras twice.

A stroke of luck. Two cameras doing some shooting during the current exhibition. One is a project from a student which will probably turn out interesting. The other, NBC. It's a funny story, but it's about email, and the fact that I get a ton of it. The funny thing is that while they were calling me about the story, I misheard the word email and thought it was "female"! I left the conversations thinking, I have a female problem? That said, yes, manager in LA shop, SF shop (was Myleen), and GRNY. All female. But it turned out to be "email." Yes I have a problem with those too. Maybe if it comes out alright, I'll link the video.

Matthew Johnson. Not the hockey goon, he's a filmmaker student from Canada making a project about art. He's interviewed a bunch of folks, so we'll see how it all comes out. Art makes a nice backdrop, and sometimes, it takes center stage.

Gary Glitter isn't Gold

Gary Glitter. This guy's songs are in arenas all over the country and probably Canada. He's a scumbag and likes Asian ten year old girls! So why do stadiums still play his song? It doesn't quite rock, but it's just one of those catchy tunes that people can get into easily, but why can't it be something else? Anything? He was released from a Vietnamese prison after being busted for doing gross stuff to little girls, and then he went straight to Bangkok, which I'm sure he thought he would be doing to some more young kids, but instead, he's going back home. Busted. He's a sick man. Stop playing those songs, people.

Softball westside finals.

GR softball took another round in a win today. Yeah, we play tomorrow. can we win? I hope so. We got this far for the first time. If we win tomorrow, we play for the city title. Of course, it's the lowest level, but the competition is truly stiff.

Long Beach Flea Market

Flea Markets are always interesting. Look at the photo above, an amazing collection of old tins. Where did it come from? Who hoarded all this stuff? How much is it worth? Is it sold separately? Will it look good if you get just 1 item, or is it amazing because there's a billion little things? In the end, I'll guess that you need a bunch, and it looks good there but when you take it home, you'll wonder why did you buy an old bandage container?


Also at flea markets are things you don't ever expect to see. Old GR shirt... That's odd. Don't tell me it's vintage!

Happy Birthday to me

I'm not one to celebrate my own days, and give props to myself, but here's a shot of my cake a few days later.

Susie ghahremani gr2

798 Beijing Shen Jingdong

Shen Jingdong art is totally pop culture. Taking Cultural Revolution folks, and doing some kind of Herge meets glossy fiberglass treatment to them, his works are catchy and easy to like. I saw his works at the 798 Art Zone in Beijing. But if you're in NY, you can see an exhibition of his works here:

ChinaSquare / New York
545 W. 25th Street
Chelsea Arts Tower 8th fl.
New York NY 10001

All of the 798 photos are now on flickr. Here's the link.

*blogger is not uploading pics now, so this is the best I could do.

Skin, N Word, Chinky Eyes

What is this? Spain basketball team doing the chinky... in Beijing with the dragon center court emblem. This is one of those situations where it's okay to do it if you're Asian, but if you're not, you can't. Sorry, that's the end of the story. It might be handled different in Europe, where an Asian might be an Oriental, but this is a popular image floating around the net. People are pissed, and Lakers, Pau Gasol is part of it too.

The N word for example, you hear some African Americans use it in every sentence, it's part of their vernacular, but can Joe Whitey say it? No. Can I? No. 

If you're Native or First People, they can call each other "skin" as in "What up, Skin." Sort of like an N Word, but can we, non-Natives use it? No, we can't and No, they can't.

Oh yes we can.

I am Susie Ghahremani

That's Susie Ghahremani, she goes back old school with Giant Robot. We've watched her in school, and she's now out of school and kicking ass. She's transforming the space unlike no other, except maybe Barry McGee did once upon a time. But this is a total different style and she's being much more meticulous. Every detail is all planned out. She's a hard worker and that's something to appreciate. As an owner and gallery guy, I do. 


That's one of the birds that are hanging from the ceiling. There's going to be a lot.


She's painting each bird and branch by hand. No two are the same, and each are balanced so there's not too many flying and pointing one way. 


It's a long wall, and she's covering it in the most amazing way. The light blue is soothing like a nice sky. Really, it does.


The shadows tell a story of it's own.


That's her favorite piece. Wait until you see it's face. It's a sleeping bird that can fly.


When Susie smiles it's golden.

Giant Robot League Champions

That's the shirt. Today was playoff game number 1. We won and beat the jock team who are usually dicks. Today, they were fairly quiet. The shirt I'm wearing is the shirt we get for being the champs. 11-1, a great season. Actually 12-1 now. I think the Old English saves it from being pure douche baggery with that middle modern primitive design that you see on arms and t-shirts all over the place. But the Old English, fine, sort of gangster. Either way, we worked hard just to get these shirts. A trophy comes later, and we have more playoff games next week. This is the second shirt for Giant Robot. From 1-11 to 12-1 (so far). I'll update you next week. 

Sawtelle Street Art

I usually don't care much about street art since it's always fleeting and it's more like a hobby for a week especially since the Banksy Effect has taken place with his book being sold at Urban Outfitters. We're all artists now right? 5 years ago, we were all DJ's. We all knew this was going to happen. Either way, here's two pieces that are interesting on Sawtelle. The flower looks great above. It caught my eye.


This one is interesting. I don't know what it means, but it has one of those expensive street art looks again thanks to Sir Banksy. This one is inside of Yamaguchi which is beginning to be dismantled. Did you know we made an effort to make that entire Yamaguchi spot, the home of Giant Robot? We tried hard and got denied.

ANP KAWS cover

Before they run out and show up on ebay at high prices this is a can't miss issue with KAWS on the cover sitting in his Original Fake Gigantic Companion box. He's showing his face now. It's large, tons of images, and I just saw these this morning. They'll be gone probably by the afternoon. I'm not sure if all of the GR stores have them. But get them while you can.

798 flickr

I'll be adding my photos from Beijing little by little, I just uploaded 25 pics from 798 Art zone. I'll be adding more and more from that area in the next few days. Keep tuned in! It was an amazing time there. It's so huge and changing you don't know what the heck is going on. You have to spend at least 2 days to really get the lay of the land in that area. Imagine, it was all communist buildings that were factories, and now, it's all art.

Flickr link to the set.

The Sense

Ever get a sense that something's weird or fishy? I know you might say you do, but do you really? Minor ordeal happened today, but I'll get it out of the way first... here's what was going thru my head and what I saw.

Three thuggish looking dudes. Cholo no doubt were walking in Ralph's market. Typical. Not tall, not thick, actually quite skinny, tattoos, and probably high school age. I honestly in my mind while I saw them walk by me was thinking, I'd bet the shit out of each one of these guys. Seriously they must weigh 120 pounds and stood maybe 5 foot 6 at best. One had a tattoo on his neck. They walked towards the meat section and one walked straight in. I thought something looked odd. A robbery? I walked by, and thought, that they worked there, but were coming in on their off time. I even saw one exit the from the back seconds after he walked in. The one dude still inside was talking to the butcher. Next thing, I hear a guy yell, "get out of here" and he had a windshield wiper and was swinging it like a whip. I started to pull out my iphone so i could take pics. Two guys ran by quickly, one even ran into a customer and ran off.

The third guy, where was he? I was ready for any gun or knife play, who knows if they had a knife, while there were many customers in the aisle of raw beef and meats. I was there to buy chicken. I was ready for any attack, although they dudes were little. The third one appears and he's punching and punching another guy. I'm watching it happen, and he must have hit the guy 6 times. Then he too runs off and a chase through the store happens. I saw the butcher, a big guy, and the guy who got punched, a little guy, walk by. Both had red fist marks on their face. They got worked. The little dude was a gang member but was employed there. He had tattoos on his face as well.

I reassured an old lady who was scared shitless next to me, by telling her to ask for free groceries. She said more than once, "we're not safe here". People were stunned, and me, I was trying to get my shit together to shoot a pic, but it was too late.

At the checkout line all the workers were talking about what happened. I overheard one say that this happened two days ago to the kid named Juan or was it Jose. I forgot the name, but I guess he's a trouble magnet. I doubt he'll be working there long. It's a shame in a way, since who knows what he's done in his past, but he's there with a job, making a go at earning some honest dollars (I hope). I saw him with about 6 employees around him outside explaining himself. I'm sure he was being grilled by management while they were waiting for the police.

If they need a statement from a witness, they can read this, otherwise, it was honestly no big deal. I only got excited because I sensed something quickly, and it all unfolded a minute later. I'll bet the people around me had no idea what was about to happen including the butcher.

Miss Understanding

Imagine. On our website, it says in bold red: ATTENTION: DO NOT PURCHASE THIS PIECE THROUGH THE SITE. YOU MUST FIRST CONTACT US BELOW

Problem #1: We get someone who decides to not read a thing, and they order it anyway.
Problem #2: They expect us to ship it with the full acknowledgment that they know there's no price on it, hence free.
Problem #3: They expect to receive it without paying a cent for it. These are works that costs significant amounts of money.

All names removed: but the email below is real. This has happened more than once. We now ignore stuff like this since the person on the other end is just lame. It's a shame humanity is doomed thanks to people like this.



I ordered a Ray Fong Barry McGee painting about one and a half weeks ago, and i have not received it yet even though the painting was in stock. I was wondering if there was some miss understanding because there was no price on it.
Thank You

Thank you for shopping at GiantRobot.com.

Invoice # 45985
--- Shipping Address ---

--- Billing Address ---


--- Order Details ---
Qty Product Name SubTotal
--------------------------------------
1 Barry McGee - Ray Fong 1 Painting $0.00
SubTotal: $0.00
Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $0.00
Total: $0.00

Beijing Bicycles on flickr

In Beijing, I snapped a lot of photos of bikes. It was fun to shoot people on bikes for some reason in China, maybe it's because the bikes were so odd compared to what I see in the US. It's not about fixed gear, or being cool, most of these bikes look like they're 50 years old. They're for the most part tools of some sort. I didn't see many bikes being ridden for recreation, it looked like most everyone was trying to get somewhere with a big load of gear. Link to the bikes.

I'll try and upload a bunch of photos I took in China. Maybe it's great timing with the Olympics going on and such. Either way, there was a lot in Giant Robot 54. These are just extra photos for you to check out.




Also on Flickr... I uploaded a collection of photos of Japanese drivers. I'm not sure how exciting it is to see, but it's a collection.

Simple Pleasures at Studio One - That's Shepard Fairey's studio

Simple Pleasures set up. Yep, it all takes place at the Shepard Fairey studio parking lot. I think most vendors thought it would be larger, since paying for a booth and having a bunch of others do the same makes you think it's going to be huge. It's near the same price as other events that take place in bigger spaces, but economically, this still might make sense when I at first thought it couldn't. There are DJ's all day. Who does that at their events? It included Mr Fairey and Daedelus among others. The tents, they aren't that cheap, but they aren't that high priced. There were at least three security guards, they cost for sure. 20 vendors. Ah, that's not a lot of vendors, and that's where it all costs. At first I didn't quite understand it all, but then it came clear, plus there's the Shepard Fairey factor, he's a pretty famous guy and he alone bring a lot of credibility and people to an event. I don't think I would put together an event like this. If I did, it would be me and the vendors sitting together drinking tea. Meanwhile, here's some pics early in the event.


That's Little Tapatio in a boat. Hope he doesn't get lost at sea. The ocean is mighty dangerous. I think he should know that.


Cookies for only 50 cents. Cookies sell better than zines sometimes. That's a sad reality in these days. You can't really live off either item, and both have their risk and rewards. Why did cookies win? I guess they're cheaper than a zine, but by not much at all. The packaging looks nice too. Is it the packaging?


Faesthetic. They're still doing their thing well. Making a periodical publication is tough, and if you can make one that some people like, that's already amazing. I think there was a time when we'd sell tons of copies. The flood of similar type of mags slowed that down. Movements, they help and hurt.


Mark and Esther making shapes under the blanket. This looks like a weird box connected to Esther's dress. It would be neat if she were stuck to the table like this. I think that could work. She'd be part of the table.

Blek Le Rat was here, not for Simple Pleasures, but actually sort of. 

Kids are getting clever with the names these days. Ashcan, Ashkhan. Okay, it's a great joke. I bet no one got it.

Shepard Fairey at the wheels. He actually plays punk, rock, and the music of his generation. I guess that's exactly mine too, which is why I recognize the songs pretty well. Some will make fun of me for saying that. Oh well.

Blue tarp makes for bad lighting, and weird skin complexion. No matter what, it still gets warm. The ground absorbs heat, and transfers it up everyone's sneakers, legs, private parts - which makes us all uncomfortable, then runs straight up the spine and to the head. It was probably 100 degrees 37.4 degrees C.


Souther Salazar shows his reversal parallel parking technique. Those sunglasses make him look cool. I need sunglasses too. If you were there, you could have got his new zine.

Simple pleasures in echo park today come see us

08/08/08

I'll be wearing this shirt, not hers though, and watching some Olympics. Happy 08/08/08. Notice how GR is still 88 pages? It's getting towards 8pm 8minutes and 8 seconds. Hope that's a moment that we'll remember for whatever reason. You can see the shirt clear, but that's a design by School out of Hong Kong. 

Peach Donuts - The Donut Man in Glendora

W